Austin is a very large city located in the state of Texas. With a population of 656,302 people and 138 constituent neighborhoods, Austin is the fourth largest community in Texas.

Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Austin is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Austin is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Austin who work in office and administrative support jobs (14.89%), sales jobs (11.09%), and management occupations (9.72%).

Also of interest is that Austin has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

In addition, Austin is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on the local Austin culture, lifestyle and music scene. In fact, Austin is one of only a few big cities that are also major college towns. The combination of big city status and thousands of college students gives Austin, on one hand, a sophisticated style, while on the other also provides a youthful feel and lots of diversions and entertainment for students. Believe it or not, Austin is one of the biggest "college towns" in America, generating lift to the economy of the entire region, and issuing forth thousands of newly-minted college students every spring, powering the innovation economy, the arts, and a lively club scene.

Not only is Austin a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Austin is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.

Austin is one of the most car-oriented large cities in America. A full 90.6% of people drive their car alone to work each day. If you like to drive, you'll love it. And you better. Because walking to work is just not a viable option for most people who live in Austin. Highways, wide streets, parking lots, and shopping centers are part of the common Austin landscape.

Austin Information and Demographics

The citizens of Austin are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 40.37% of adults in Austin have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Austin in 2000 was $24,163, which is wealthy relative to Texas, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $96,652 for a family of four.

Austin is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Austin home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Austin is White, followed by African-American. Austin also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 30.63% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Austin include German, English, and Irish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Austin's cultural character, accounting for 16.61% of the city's population.

The most common language spoken in Austin is English. Some people also speak Spanish.